Cabinet approves creation of national bench of GST Appellate Tribunal

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved creation of a national bench of the Goods and Services Tax Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT).

The GSTAT will be presided over by its president and will consist of one Technical Member (Centre) and one Technical Member (State). The bench will be located in New Delhi.

The creation of GSTAT's national bench will cost one-time expenditure of Rs 92.50 lakh while the recurring expenditure will Rs.6.86 crore per year, said Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Law and Justice and Electronics and Information Technology.

He was briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, which was presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The GSTAT is a forum of second appeal in GST laws and the first common forum of dispute resolution between the Centre and states.

The appeals against the orders in first appeals issued by the appellate authorities under the Central and State GST Acts lie before the GST Appellate Tribunal which is common under the Central as well as State GST Acts.

Being a common forum, GST Appellate Tribunal will ensure uniformity in redressal of disputes arising under GST, and thus in smooth implementation of GST across the country.